The United States is con­sid­er­ing ac­cept­ing a quant­ity of Ger­man nuc­le­ar waste for con­ver­sion in­to a pro­lif­er­a­tion-res­ist­ant form.

The U.S. En­ergy De­part­ment on Wed­nes­day said it would weigh the en­vir­on­ment­al im­plic­a­tions of ac­cept­ing Ger­man spent atom­ic fuel con­tain­ing highly en­riched urani­um — something the United States is thought to have nev­er done be­fore, Re­u­ters re­por­ted.

Un­der the pro­posed plan, a ship­ment of nearly 2,000 pounds of U.S.-ori­gin urani­um would be re­pat­ri­ated from Ger­many to the Sa­van­nah River Site in South Car­o­lina. The de­part­ment said it is in­ter­ested in con­vert­ing the spent fuel in­to a form that would be more dif­fi­cult to use in a nuc­le­ar weapon.

The Sa­van­nah River Site is de­vel­op­ing a pro­cess for re­mov­ing the urani­um in spent nuc­le­ar fuel.

Some op­pon­ents of the po­ten­tial waste trans­fer ar­gue that En­ergy has not put forth a de­tailed plan for how it will dis­pose of the ma­ter­i­al. “They’re pro­pos­ing to ex­tract the urani­um and re­use it as fuel by a pro­cess that has nev­er been done be­fore,” said Tom Cle­m­ents, who heads an anti-nuc­le­ar group that mon­it­ors the Sa­van­nah River Site.

“There’s no place to take high-level waste in the U.S.,” Cle­m­ents said. “Urani­um that is turned in­to com­mer­cial fuel is not con­tained in­side nuc­le­ar waste. It’s pure ma­ter­i­al.”

The Sa­van­nah River Site presently houses mil­lions of gal­lons of ra­dio­act­ive nuc­le­ar-arms waste held in con­tain­ers, which state of­fi­cials say are in danger of leak­ing in­to the nearby ground­wa­ter.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) are threatening to block the spending bill—and prevent the Senate from leaving town—"because it would not extend benefits for retired coal miners for a year or pay for their pension plans. The current version of the bill would extend health benefits for four months. ... Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Thursday afternoon moved to end debate on the continuing resolution to fund the government through April 28. But unless Senate Democrats relent, that vote cannot be held until Saturday at 1 a.m. at the earliest, one hour after the current funding measure expires."

Source:

PARLIAMENT VOTED 234-56

South Korean President Impeached

1 hours ago

THE LATEST

The South Korean parliament voted on Friday morning to impeach President Park Geun-hye over charges of corruption, claiming she allowed undue influence to a close confidante of hers. Ms. Park is now suspended as president for 180 days. South Korea's Constitutional Court will hear the case and decide whether to uphold or overturn the impeachment.

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CLOSED FOR INAUGURAL ACTIVITIES

NPS: Women’s March Can’t Use Lincoln Memorial

1 hours ago

THE DETAILS

Participants in the women's march on Washington the day after inauguration won't have access to the Lincoln Memorial. The National Park Service has "filed documents securing large swaths of the national mall and Pennsylvania Avenue, the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial for the inauguration festivities. None of these spots will be open for protesters."

Source:

2.1 PERCENT IN 2017

President Obama Boosts Civilian Federal Pay

1 hours ago

THE LATEST

President Obama on Thursday announced a pay raise for civilian federal employees of 2.1 percent come January 2017. He had said multiple times this year that salaries would go up 1.6 percent, so the Thursday announcement came as a surprise. The change was likely made to match the 2.1 percent increase in salary that members of the military will receive.

Source:

SHUTDOWN LOOMING

House Approves Spending Bill

20 hours ago

BREAKING

The House has completed it's business for 2016 by passing a spending bill which will keep the government funded through April 28. The final vote tally was 326-96. The bill's standing in the Senate is a bit tenuous at the moment, as a trio of Democratic Senators have pledged to block the bill unless coal miners get a permanent extension on retirement and health benefits. The government runs out of money on Friday night.